The Joys of GlenDIVE, Montana 9/17/2009

We enjoyed a beautiful morning at Cooney Reservoir and had a nice chat with the State Park Employee, Sharon. (There were only 3 campers at the campground last night. The joys of traveling in September.) Turns out she’s a Bay Area transplant albeit 40 years ago. At Yellowstone Park we discovered that our furnace was only blowing cold air. Not a problem for the next couple of days, but anticipating very cold weather ahead we thought it prudent to get it checked out. Sharon recommended a shop and we headed for Billings. There was a couple hour wait before they could check it out, but good ol’ handyman Ned was futzing with it and found the problem! Turns out the heater is perfecto, we just had too much “stuff” packed around the cold air intake. Dodged that bullet! Since we were in the neighborhood we decided to check out “historic downtown Billings” and ended up having a picnic lunch at the Visitor’s Center. We then ventured onto the Pictograph Cave State Park. It was hotter than hell (above 90 degrees) today, so taking a walk through the arid, baking hot loop trail to the caves took a bit out of me. Needless to say, I was expecting a good return on that investment of energy and expected to see some kick-ass pictographs. Unfortunately, the Crow Indians that painted the walls sometime within the last 11,000 years failed to use water-resistant pigments and the drawings were a bit faded – to say the least. I appreciated the historical significance nevertheless. (See the pic with the faint red drawings in the upper right side of cave). Further on down the road we decided to visit Pompey Pillar’s National Monument. This is the only remaining evidence of the Lewis and Clark expedition passing through this area. Here William Clark carved his name and date (July 25, 1806) in the rock. Ned and I had read the book “From Sea to Shining Sea”, which documents the expedition. Therefore, it was really fun to see this piece of history. The new visitor’s center is quite exceptional – great architecture and landscaping, cool movie and nice exhibits. We kept moseying thru Eastern Montana and were lured by another roadway sign extolling the virtues of Rosebud historical courthouse in down Forsythe. We couldn’t resist. Turns out it’s famous for the drama that ensued when it was built in 1914. The project cost more than the bond, the local newspaper was outraged, and the foreman decided to hide out between the ceiling and roof with the key to the courthouse until they were paid for the job! Pretty much a hoot. The courthouse with the neoclassic design, including the copper dome, still remains a beauty today. Our final destination was Glendive, Montana and the last hour or so was proving to be a bit of a long drive. We decided to break up the monotony by listening to French tapes in preparation for Quebec. (Note to self: never-ever listen to French tapes with Ned while driving!! I almost ran the car off the road in hysterics over Ned’s gestures and silly French impersonations. I can hardly wait til we are in Quebec and Ned is using his new command of the French language). We finally arrived in Glendive at the Green Valley Family RV “Resort”. (No State Parks with facilities were available in this part of Montana). The resort is located in a cornfield between the freeway and the railroad tracks. Yes, there are hot showers, flush toilets, electrical hook-ups and laundry facilities. The laundry is in a fiberglass shed up on a hillside, the shower is a nozzle head only with a dribble of water, and there are tractors, backhoes and misc. machinery scattered about. (Sorry Craig, Pilot Rock products are not featured here!) At least we have a quaint (ahem) place to sleep, clean clothes and hope the Burlington Northern Railroad won’t keep us up! Tomorrow onto Teddy Roosevelt National Park